When We Got Sucked In
by CeeCeeBee
Summary: Lani and Cara were two seemingly regular girls who shared the one same obsession: the anime and manga series Naruto. When somehow transported to the world they thought would only exist in their dreams, there is to be romance and flaring tempers around every corner. But the one question remains: How to get them home? (OC centric story & contains manga spoilers)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the OCs within the story.

* * *

**Chapter I: When Your Dreams Come True**

"Ugh! Hurry up!" Cara muttered, and exasperated sigh escaping her lips. The brunette sixteen year old was desperately wanting to look for the latest episode of Naruto Shippuden online but promised her best friend Lani, who she was currently waiting on, she wouldn't until the other girl arrived.

It was a typical Saturday for the Caucasian girl who was dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans for the occasion. Pushing her thick rimmed glasses further up her nose, she nibbled on her lip where she sat.

She shuffled off the two-seater couch in the T.V. room, down the hall and into her minuscule kitchen, flicking the jug on to boil in the process. She retrieved two pots of instant noodles from her cupboard and tore off the plastic, pealing back the papery lid before placing the two pots on the bench top.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Came the yell, as the front door swung wide, letting in a gust of cool autumn air. In stepped Lani, hair slightly tousled, with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder.

"Look who decided to show up." Cara said, feigning annoyance. But in all honestly, Cara and her mum had grown used to the other girl walking into their house like she owned it whenever she wanted. It had become a common occurrence over the years.

"Geez, I walked all the way here, okay." She muttered, dumping her bag near the couch in the lounge and sprawling out on it.

"Yeah, the whole ten minutes." Cara snorted as she poured boiling water into the two cups. "Come on." She added, motioning for Lani to follow her into the T.V. room where her laptop was set up.

Booting Firefox, Cara squealed with delight and anticipation as she loaded in the hopes the latest episode would be up.

"Damn." Cara growled under her breath, dismayed to find that their go-to website still hadn't uploaded the subbed version.

"Come on! We want to be the first to watch it!" Lani said, excitement rushing through her.

"You try doing this!" Cara hissed, clicking onto another website, with no success.

"Look, look, look! Click that!" Lani yelled, pointing at a website that read: _Naruto new episode uploaded!_

"Ah, I can't wait! This is so exciting!" Cara screeched.

"Can you girls please be a littler quieter," Cara's mother said from the doorway. She had her mobile pressed to her shoulder. "I know your excited but I have a very important work call."

Lani and Cara held their breath, trying not to laugh with sheer embarrassment.

"Yes mum." Cara murmered.

"...Sorry Kylie, my daughter and her friend are very excitable. They're worse than the children I teach." Her voice was laced with shame as she walked back down the hall to her bedroom.

"Come on! Click it!"Lani said, now speaking barely above a whisper.

"Okay." Cara replied, barely able to stop herself from yelling again. "I can't believe it!" She said pressing play. It was going to be epic!

Cara passed Lani her a pot of instant noodles and watched intently as the video loaded. The title sequence played and the girls both dancing and singing along in Japanese from where they sat. When the song ended, bizarre swirly patterns formed on the screen, soon enveloping the whole space.

"What the hell?" Lani scowled. "You get hacked or something?"

"No... I don't know!" Cara replied, desperately pressing the escape button repeatedly, to no avail.

Before they knew what was happening, the weird swirling portal expanded from the laptop screen and into the physical world. Loose bits of paper and books which had been tossed haphazardly onto the floor and arms of the furniture went flying around the room, and before they could do anything, Lani and Cara were sucked into the void, which closed as they went falling, falling, falling.

Heavily they landed, bouncing and rolling from the impact of plummeting from the sky and slamming into the ground below.

"Aw yucgth!" Cara moaned, gingerly attempting to roll onto her side and get on her hands and knees – well that was before she inhaled a mouthful of sand and proceeded to cough and spit, tongue unattractively lolling out of her mouth.

"Ugh... Cara? You okay?" Came the muffled voice of Lani, who had managed to escape the same fate as her friend, conveniently landing with the sleeve of her humongous jumper covering her mouth and nose. "Jeez it's freakin' hot."

"Uh, Houston, we have a problem."

Lani's head immediately snapped in the direction of Cara's voice and she shrieked in surprise. There was her friend, crouching in the pile of sand she landed in, looking at her shaking hands.

"Ehhh?!" Cara shrieked, her eyes becoming large white circles of surprise. "I-I'm animated?!"

That was when Lani took a good look at herself and found she was in the same state. She felt her face with her hands and found her eyes felt more slanted and pronounced – like a triangle or rectangle, rather than her regular large sideways ovals regular humans' had – and her forehead was as smooth as paper, no longer riddled with the bumps of late puberty induced pimples. Did animated people not get blemishes?

Cara was doing the same, touching her arms and head and legs, like she was making sure every piece was there. Her hands flew to her hair, which was a few shades darker than Lani's, but shorter by miles. She was astounded to find it was more or less in portions, rather than defined by individual strands. She ran her fingers through it, amazed at how soft it was – like she had just gotten out of the chair from Rodney Wayne after a cut and blow wave.

"We're animated." Cara said once again, but this time in a tone of excitement and her eyes reflected the same curiosity as Lani's.

"That damn website, it's like it opened up some kind of crazy wormhole that sucked us into another universe." Lani ground out through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, but exactly what universe did it take us to?"

Meanwhile, in the Kazekage office, Gaara was being disturbed from his work by a constant, desperate pounding on the door of his office. Looking up from his paperwork, he said, "Come in."

The door opened revealing a distraught looking Matsuri and Sari, who were panting breathlessly but some how managed to speak.

"Gaara-Sama did you see the lights?"  
"We heard screams and there was all these strange clouds!"

"People fell from the sky, the villagers are scared!"

"And Temari and Kankuro went to go check it out and they're out there now!"

"You must do something Gaara-Sama! Everyone could be in danger!"

The red haired man took a deep breath as the words that tumbled out of the girl's mouths settled in his mind to some kind of ordered degree. The two were irritatingly close to him, hands pressed down on his desk so hard, he wouldn't be surprised if it broke in two.

"Calm down," he told them. "Temari and Kankuro will have it under control."

"B-But anything could of happened!" Sari yelled, her eyes wide with terror.

Somehow, and he didn't know how, but Gaara had missed this "spectacle" of lights and clouds and people falling. He was sure that his siblings would have control of the situation – whatever that situation was – and he explained to Matsuri and Sari that they should go to the hospital to get something for the shock and he would see to it.

Before Gaara could even get out of his chair, there was more knocking on his door and without waiting for an answer, in walked his two older sibling, followed by two brunette girls. One had glasses, the other with extremely long hair. They were dressed in bizarre looking clothing, certainly something a ninja wouldn't wear, and the one with the longest hair was wearing something that resembled an oversized sack with sleeves.

"Kankuro, Temari, who are these people?" He asked. "Matsuri and Sari informed me of some weird lights in the sky and you were going to investigate."

"This is, Cara." Temari said, gesturing to the girl with glasses. She was tall, almost a whole head taller than the other one, and was going bright red despite her tan colouring. "And Lani," The longer haired brunette smiled meekly at him. She was pale and appeared to be hiding in the sack she was wearing.

"Where are you from." He asked, Cara spoke, squeaking in surprise.

"Well, uh... h-how to explain?" She mused aloud. Growing impatient, Lani too over.

"It's hard to explain, but you could say we were sucked into this world from our homeland, Earth."

"Hmm? Sucked into this world?"

"Yes, through a wormhole, portal type thing."

They stood in thoughtful silence for a while, but somewhere along the way, Lani and Cara got bored and began whispering to each other. Suddenly Lani cried, "So true!" which earned her a raised eyebrow from Kankuro.

The girl's cheeks flamed beetroot red and Cara could be heard muttering, "well that's not awkward."

"Alright," Gaara said finally, and all attention was on him. "Kankuro, I want you to send word to Konoha to request help. This could possibly have something to do with the Sharingan. Temari, take them back to the house, you know what to do."

"Yes Kazekage-Sama!" They said, Lani and Cara echoing them proudly.

"Come on in." Temari said, beckoning the duo into the house. It was a huge three story place which all Kazekages and their families lived in until the Kazekage either passed away or retired.

"Woah! This is so cool!" Cara gasped in awe. Her mouth hung open and didn't plan on shutting soon.

"It's massive! I bet it's almost as big as the museum." Lani gawked and Temari chuckled in amusement.

"You two will be staying in guest rooms across from each other on the third floor." She explained to them. "If you need us, you can find our rooms on the second floor. I guess I better give you the grand tour."

They both squealed with delight and as they were shown each room. Even the downstairs bathroom encouraged a new round of "Ohhs" and "Ahhs" from the duo. And it wasn't like it was plated with gold or anything either.

"Here we are." Temari said. They were now on the third floor, standing outside of the two girls' rooms.

"Thanks so much Temari, you have been so nice to us. I mean- we're complete strangers!" Cara said.

"Well, consider it a way of apologies for trying to attack you earlier. We weren't really sure what was going on."

Memories of yelling for help to two strange figures before being sent flying by a gale with the force of a brick wall echoed throughout the girl with glasses' mind. And after that, almost getting decapitated by shuriken before being sent flying into what appeared to be a dark beer keg. Cara wouldn't of been surprised if Lani had swooned upon realising she was in a belly of Kuroari.

"Hey, we're just as confused as you are right now, so thanks again. And not just to you, but to Gaara and Kankuro too." Lani smiled.

Cara rolled her eyes. "Obsessed fangirl."

"Am not!"

"Yeah you are. It's just like that fad you had with Hidan!"

Temari, who had just been turning to leave, stopped in her tracks and whirled around to face Lani and Cara with narrowed eyes. "You know of the Akatsuki?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess we forgot to explain _that_ thing..." Cara mumbled.

"What thing?"

"Look, I think it's better if we explain when everyone is here." Lani said.

"Alright. I have a small mission to complete anyway, so I have to head out. You'll be fine here, Kankuro should be back soon."

"Right." Lani said, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

For the next half hour, Lani and Cara went exploring about the house on their own again and fretted over whether they might be imprisoned because Temari suspected them of being involved with the Akatsuki organisation. For now, they were sprawled out on the couch, Lani hanging upside down with a pillow hugged to her chest and Cara with her legs dangling off the side, arguing about with Akatsuki member was best.

"But Sasori is _way_ better than Deidara!" Cara argued.

"But Sasori is dead!" Lani growled in defense.

"So is Deidara!" Cara retorted.

"Sasori hardly lasted 2 episode in the Fourth Ninja War."

"At least he died with heart, unlike the idiot Deidara who only died because of the release of the Impure World Reincarnation."

"Sasori was a freaking puppet!"

"So is your precious Kankuro!"

"He's a puppet _master_ not a _puppet!"_

"Oh same difference!"

"Whats the same difference?" Kankuro asked coming into the lounge room, Lani leaping up in surprise with her face animatedly glowing pink.

"Oh its nothing, really! Uh, when did you come in?" She asked, desperate to change topic.

"Only just now," he replied and Lani let out the breath she realise she was holding. She didn't want her all time favourite character since his first appearance to think she was a total weirdo like half her school back home.

"Did you get the message sent to Konoha?" Cara asked cooly, and Lani wished it was Gaara who had walked in.

"Yes. We sent Takamaru, our fastest carrier bird." He replied.

"We know!" Cara and Lani chorused, Kankuro looking confused and he sat down on one of the couches.

* * *

AN:

I would like to thank my best friend, lets just call her Tanuki-Chan, for supporting me through this story's initial writing and now it's re-writing. And thank you in advance, to anyone who decides to follow this story or review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: How The Story Goes**

Everyone was seated. Cara and Lani were sitting down across from the Sand Siblings who waited on them with tense anticipation. The two brunettes were terrified out of their wits, the whole scenario feeling like an interrogation.

Their first day in Suna had passed rather uneventfully after they had been taken into the care of the Kazekage's family, and they still wore their usual, "bizarre" attire. Cara nudged Lani gently, and then Lani nudged Cara back. Nudged turned to push, then push turned to shove, neither girl wanting to speak first.

"Eh-hem." Temari cleared her throat, shooting the pair a look.

Straightening up, Lani courageously spoke. "Well, Cara and I come from this place called Earth. And in our world, you are supporting characters apart of a weekly anime and manga series which follows the life of Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto. We read and watch it from a laptop, which is a device which allows you to browse the internet – which is a world in it's own right I guess – and this is how we watch 'Naruto'.

"While looking for the latest episode of Naruto, when we clicked on it, this weird swirling portal-thingy opened up and swallowed us in, transporting us here to Suna. Everything that has ever happened in your world from Gaara being captured by the Akatsuki and having the shukaku taken from him and Lady Chiyo bringing him back to life, we have seen. Even the Fourth Ninja war in which the four previous Hokage were reincarnated and Sasuke went to help – we read it and watched it all happen from our home."

"So that is how you know of everyone? Of our birds and weapons?" Kankuro asked.

"Yes, yes, and yes." Cara replied with a grin.

Temari appeared to be thinking hard, her chin resting on her fist in contemplation. The whole time, Gaara hadn't said a thing. Not even the slightest twitch of a facial muscle to give away some of what he was feeling during Lani's speech.

"No matter how far fetched this story sounds, I believe you. I did happen to see something like this 'swirly portal' you described as you fell from the sky." Temari finally said. "I think we should really get you out of what you are wearing. This doesn't exactly scream inconspicuous."

Lani almost drooled. "You mean we get to wear ninja clothes?!"

"You may borrow some of mine." The sandy blonde nodded.

As the three girls bounded upstair to Temari's room – well, Lani and Cara bounded, Temari followed behind with much less enthusiasm – Kankuro turned to Gaara and asked, "what do you think of all of this?"

"I think they should go home as soon as possible. The longer they are here, the more of an issue it will become."

"But we don't even know what the hell brought them here! I doubt it will be something something so easy to decipher." Kankuro explained and Gaara didn't reply.

Meanwhile, in Konoha,Shizune burst into the office, looking flustered. Tsunade looked up in surprise but held her gaze steadily. "Shizune, whats wrong?" She asked, her elbows placed on her desk with her hands interlinked and her chin resting on them.

"I'm sorry to disturb you M'lady, but there's been a message sent from the Hidden Sand Village." She replied, attempting to catch her breath.

"A message from the Hidden Sand Village... What does it say?"

"It is still being deciphered. Yurika from the cryptology team is handling it."

Tsunade sighed, glancing out the window. It wasn't rare anymore that other villages would call on the help of others in time of need. The Fourth Shinobi War and the alliance had changed the bonds between the ninja world, even though before that though, Suna and Konoha had an agreement.

"Here it is Lady Hokage." The door opened, revealing the short haired brunette woman, who had only aged slightly since her last major job deciphering the Sand villages plea when Gaara had been captured.

Tsunade took the note with a nod and dismissed Yurika from her office. The busty blonde had to read through it a couple of times to make sure she was reading correctly. If this had been from anyone else, like Naruto for example, Tsunade would have believed it was a childish prank. But coming directly from the Kazekage's bodyguard, she highly doubted it.

Scowling in confusion, she murmured, "this is very interesting," as she swiveled her chair around to look out the large window overlooking the village. It provided a serene view, which helped her to figure out what to do.

After a long pause, she swung back around and said, "I want you to assemble a three-man squad to investigate, but it has been requested that Naruto be included. With the others I will trust your judgement. Send them to me immediately for a mission briefing and reply to the Sand as soon as possible."

"Yes Tsunade-Sama." Shizune replied, hurriedly rushing to fulfill her orders.

Later in the day, Shizune came back with Tonton in her arms followed by the team she had assembled. Naruto, Sakura and Sai along with their silver haired Jonin, appeared in the room and Tsunade wore a look that said, "why did Naruto _have_ to be involved in this?" Nonetheless, she took the opportunity to cut in, as Naruto attempted to speak.

"Earlier today, we received a message from the Hidden Sand Village, claiming that they-"

"Is Gaara okay?!" Naruto was up in front of Tsunade's desk in a flash, his tone of voice tense and the old woman sighed.

"Yes Naruto, if you let me finish you will understand that nothing serious has happened." She glowered at him.

"As I was saying, we received a message from the Hidden Sand Village, claiming that yesterday they met two girls who weren't shinobi, explaining to them that they came from another world where we are all characters in a television series. The Kazekage has asked for a team of Leaf Shinobi to go to The Sand Village to get the full story and assist them in finding a way to send the girls back home."

"But Grandma Tsunade, why can't we take Sasuke with us? He is apart of this team!" Naruto responded without even acknowledging that Tsunade had just given them the details of a mission.

" I don't expect you to understand, but the villagers still don't trust and accept Sasuke. "

Tsunade sighed and resisted the urge to rub her temples in exasperation. He was the same old Naruto – as loud and as boisterous as ever. She had assumed that once Sasuke had redeemed himself and made up with the majority of the Leaf, Naruto would relax a little more. Of course, he just _had_ to prove her wrong.

Beginning to lose her temper, the older woman quickly stepped in before Naruto could retort, "just do your mission and come back. It's not like Sasuke will be going anywhere."

"Ugh, but Grandma..." Naruto whined.

"I told you, Sasuke is not joining you and that it final Naruto!" Tsunade yelled, her temper getting the better of her as she slammed her palms down on the hardwood of her desk. Shizune squeaked as the desk was almost reduced to wood chips. "Go pack and depart by the afternoon." She instructed all of them.

"Yes Hokage-sama!" They all repliedin unison and swiftly made their exit.

The sun was setting low in the sky by the time everyone had gone their separate ways. The girls had been ecstatic, trying on all Temari's clothes and abusing her offer. Lani and Cara were too excited to care and Temari just had too much pride to object to their wishes.

By now, Temari, Kankuro and Gaara had all gone their separate ways which left Cara and Lani to their own devices. In Cara's "room", they came across some shuriken and began to prance around the room, pretending they actually knew how to use them. Lani then flung one across the room, almost taking out Cara's eye in the process, she screamed, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Cara, are you alright?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just peachy." The dark haired brunette replied tartly, but a small smile began to break through.

They giggled at their antics, realising it probably wasn't such a good idea. But their laughs turn to gasps of horror upon realising that Lani's rogue shuriken had firmly jammed itself in the back of the door. They attempted to pull it free, each taking a turn to try and yank it from it's home, but it would not budge.

Now collapsed in a pile on the floor, the shuriken still embedded in the back of the door. They grew bored of talking quickly and Lani sighed, "if only we could get internet here and watch the _real _episode of _Naruto Shippuden 307_!"

"You know," Cara suggested, "maybe this _is_ the episode."

Lani woke up to the sound of knocking on her door the next day, and the sun in her eyes. The room was stifling and stuffy, and she groaned and huffed as she forced herself out of the bed to go see whoever had disturbed her slumber.

The brunette young woman had stayed up with Cara for the majority of the night before going back to her own room and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was beginning to regret staying up so late, and it felt so _early._

"Coming!" She mumbled half asleep, throwing on the borrowed shirt as she opened the door, surprised to find Gaara there.

"Come downstairs, there has been a reply from the Leaf." He said.

She could imagine Cara suealing at his monotonous voice, as he spoke in a tone that sounded "So freaking sexy!".

"Sure thing." She grinned and followed the red haired Kazekage down the stairs, irritated to see everyone there and waiting on her – even Cara._ Why am I always the last one to be informed? It's like middle school all over again!_

"So whats the news?" She asked, trying to hide her annoyance as she took a seat on the plush couch next to her best friend. The Sand Siblings looked so intimidating as they sat together on the opposite side of the duo, all straight and tall like three roman pillars. The were _way_ less menacing on the computer than in real life.

"It seems our message has reached the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Gaara started, a flower of hope blooming in each girl's chest.

"And? And? What did they say?" Cara eagerly urged.

"They have replied, explaining they will send a squad who shall arrive in around three days." Temari carried on from where Gaara left off. "But they have added a condition to them coming here, as they believe it will speed up the process of getting you two home."

Lani frowned. "And what is that?"

.

.

.

"One of you must go back with them."

* * *

A/N: Dun dun da duh!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: The Decision**

"_One of you must go back with them."_

"What?!" Lani screeched.

"No way! We are not being split up!" Cara yelped, both girls utterly astonished at the sudden turn of events.

"We didn't make the choice, it was a condition from the Leaf, as they believe this could be in relations to the Sharingan."

"Kamui?" Lani asked.

"We are unsure, and that is why we _need_ Konoha's help and why one of you must go with them."

Lani sighed. "So who is going back?"

"We are giving you the option." Gaara explained.

Lani huffed, despite it's unfairness, she knew it must be done. Plus, she already knew who would be going. Shooting Cara a grim look, she could see the pain in her friend's hazelnut eyes. She barely heard Temari tell them that they had until the squad arrived to make their decision, and everyone leaving.

Wasn't this supposed to be their dream come true? Lani and Cara, sucked into Naruto and meeting all their favourite characters that they admired and respected. They wouldn't even have been there a week before they were split up.

Face screwing up in distaste, Lani grumbled something incomprehensible and leaned back on her friend like a she would a pillow.

"Well this stinks." She huffed, and Cara agreed.

"It'll only be for a little while," Cara tried to be positive. "And come on, you get to experience a whole other village while I stay here in the dreary old Sand."

"Dreary old Sand? Come on, you'll have fun over here secretly oogling over Gaara." Lani replied, poking Cara in the side.

"I wont!" She pouted defiantly.

"Uh, _yes_. I know the only reason I'll be going and you staying is because you think Gaara is hot!"

Standing by the stairs, Gaara stood rigid.

There was a select few times when the Kazekage had been at a loss for words, and this now ranked highest on it. The girl who had been wearing the sack – as he would forever distinguish her as – word's hit him like a wall, leaving him unable to move or to speak.

He had come downstairs to go back to his office and complete whatever work needed to be done. There were genin teams ready for some new missions, he thought. But that all left his mind immediately as "you think Gaara is hot" reached his eardrums.

It felt like being caught in that Nara's shadow Justu, his mind wanting for him to move, but his body deciding not to cooperate. He felt his face beginning to heat as blood rushed to his cheeks, which he willed to settle down.

He could hear them talking again now, something about going up? That was when his body appeared to step into motion and work once again.

With a deflated sigh, Gaara continued to walk until he slammed into something harder than that emotional "brick wall". Tripping over backwards, arms flailed and yells were heard. And as his head connected with the ground, it was like being pinned between his two siblings while fighting when they were younger.

Opening his eyes slightly, it was then that he felt something soft mashed against his face on an awkward angle. He stared into dark brown eyes the colour of hazelnut, and it was then that the realisation sunk in.

_He was kissing someone!_

"Oh sweet Lord!" The girl on top of him gasped, quickly pushing herself away to the other side of the room. "I-I'm so sorry!" She shrieked.

Gaara looked at Cara, still as shocked as she was at the turn of events, realising why she looked peculiar. The reason was because her glasses had been knocked off of her face and lay on the floor at his feet.

She was actually quite pretty when not hiding her face...

Awkwardly, he extended the glasses towards her, and she quickly took them from him, before sprinting up the stairs.

"You should have seen your faces!" Lani cried, rolling around on the floor and clutching her stomach, laughing uncontrollably. She beat the ground with a fist, her whole body shaking.

When the red haired man left, the brunette realising that she was the only left one in the room, she went up to the second floor to find her friend.

In Cara's room, the said girl lay on the bed with a pillow hugged to her chest and her face buried in it. "Oh Lani," she wailed when she walked in, "It was so embarrassing and awkward and right after you said all that! Oh I hate Karma!"

She began to ramble and grumble, and all Lani replied was, "Smooth."

Suddenly, the other brunette was assaulted by Cara, who's worries and despair vanished into thin air. The pair grappled for a little while, until Cara managed to pin Lani underneath her.  
"Jesus Cara, what are you gonna do now? Kiss me too?" Lani spat with mock fury, managing to roll so now she had Cara down.

"Don't say anything else about it!" She pleaded. "I'm so mortified! Cross your heart you wont tell!"

"I know, I know. Cross my heart and hope to die." Lani replied, making the gestures across the middle of her chest.

"Aha! A shinobi never lets their guard down!" Cara cried triumphantly as she wriggled out from underneath Lani and sprang at her once again.

Their mock fight continued for quite some time, pillows and bed sheets and all sorts becoming shields and shuriken and kunai.

Eventually, they both plopped down onto the bed, declaring their battle a draw, until the next time. Laying there together in serene quiet, listening to the cicadas outside, Lani sighed "so three days, huh?"

"Yep." Cara said, popping the P. "Three days."

* * *

A/N:

No, I am not happy with this chapter. Nope, nope, nope.

I think it's too short and fast paced and just UGH - but I had to upload for you guys and not keep you waiting any longer!

And I'm really sorry, but instead of weekly updates like I had planned to do, it will now be fortnightly because increasing activities etc.

Until the next one :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: Three Days Passed And It Begins**

The nerves were killing him, he was sure of it. Or maybe it was that he hadn't had some Ichiraku Ramen before he left... He wasn't sure, but Naruto was anxious to find out what's up and then get back to the Leaf Village.

As the entrance to the Sand Village loomed up in front of the squad, Naruto couldn't help but allow a large toothy grin break through.

It had been a while since he met his Kazekage friend, and Naruto was anxious to find out how he was doing after everything that had gone on. He had heard briefly about Gaara's fight in the war, but hadn't talked to the other man about it in person. The blonde haired man was sure looking forward to hearing the whole thing.

The said ninja was waiting for them at the entrance of the village, flanked by Temari and Kankuro, and he could see the two heads of the girls loitering behind them. The group slowed their pace as they approached the five.

"Gaara!" Naruto full out beamed at his friend who returned in reply a polite nod.

"Naruto, it's been a while."

"It sure has!" The Konoha ninja laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "So how's the Sand Village holding up? Still keeping things in check _Kazekage-sama_?" He mocked, but they could hear a tinge of jealousy in his tone.

"Everything is fine, what about the Leaf Village?"

"It's great! Hey, you heard about Sasuke right? Grandma Tsunade just gave him the all clear for being apart of the village again!"

Kakashi coughed awkwardly. "Sorry Naruto, but if your done with chatting, I think we should really get onto business now." The silver haired Jonin gave him that look, which told him not to argue. Naruto huffed, but grumbled internally, _Why can't Kakashi-sensei keep his nose in his perverted book at the _right_ time?_

"We'd like to introduce to you, Lani and Cara." Temari said, and the brunette duo shuffled forward.

They appeared shy, but then irritated as Naruto inspected them both thoroughly, poking them and getting in close to their faces, inspecting them from all different angles and positions.

"Hmm..." He mumbled before turning to Gaara and pointedly asking him, "are you sure they're real?"

"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura yelled, a vein bulging in her forehead and a fat red angry mark appearing above her head.

"Sakura-chan!" He whined, backing away from the menacing woman.

"Hold ma shit!" Lani comically yelled, pretending to take off the earrings she wasn't wearing and have Cara hold her back as she thrashed around in a mocking fashion.

"Oh boy." Kakashi sighed, picking up from where he had left off in the worn Icha Icha Tactics book he had in his pocket.

"Ahem." Someone loudly cleared their throat, and the chaos ceased as everyone stood back in order. "Kakashi, I'll need you to come with Lani and I back to my office to sign consent papers," Gaara informed the older man. "Everyone else can follow my siblings and Cara to the house for the girls to give you a run down of events."

"Sure." He said, and everyone entered the village.

When in Gaara's office, Lani began busily signing the documents which allowed her to enter Konoha and Suna without any issues and anything she participated in – ninja related – would be for research purposes only.

They then returned to the house not long after, finding the other ninja and Cara comfortably waiting for their return. Once the girls were settled, they launched into retelling their story to a Konoha ninja, which everyone listened to intently.

"That's so cool! I have a show named after me!" Naruto cried, once they concluded their recital.

"Of course that would be the first thing you say, Naruto." Sakura sighed.

"So you say you know every that has happened?" Kakashi confirmed.

"Mhhmm!" Cara nodded enthusiastically. "Everything from the war, to Pein attacking, the Hokage's being reincarnated. Sasuke and Obito and Madara – believe us or not but it's true."

There was a minute of silence, Cara realising she had said too much, touching on the emotional spots she shouldn't have, judging by the pained faces Sakura and Kakashi were making.

"I don't believe this has anything to do with the Sharingan and Kamui. It's a possibility that we could send them back to their dimension with it, but it's impossible to tell how they got here in the first place." Kakashi said after a moment of thought.

"I refuse to be teleported!" Lani piped up, but was promptly ignored.

"So which one is coming?" Naruto asked.

Everyone sweat dropped, and Cara and Lani face palmed in unison.  
"I am, idiot." Lani hissed through her teeth. "Miss the memo?"

Naruto scowled. "Why can't it be the be other one that's coming?" He whined. "I like the other one!"

Whilst Lani tried not to slap him, Cara just giggled into her sleeve.

"So are you ready to go?" Cara asked her best friend, concern in her eyes.

Lani nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." She said with an aching edge to her tone.

"Life really is unfair," the taller brunette sighed. "Even in Naruto."

While Lani stuffed her jumper that she had arrived in into a bag, she moaned, "I wish we had email! Why couldn't Naruto have internet?"

"Well at least we'll see each other in a few months," Cara tried to cheer her up. "And apparently we can send messages to each other."

She let out a small squeak of surprise and Lani caught her in a tight hug, and tears began to form in Cara's eyes.

"We always do everything together and now you have to leave!" Cara sobbed.

Lani liked to pride herself in being the "unemotional, I-wont-show-weakness" type of person, but now, the tears were freely flowing down her cheeks too.

"Now I'm crying." She sniffed, with a little smile on her face.

Cara giggled."Come on," she said. "You'll be late, lets not keep Konoha waiting."

"Alright." Lani sniveled, furiously scrubbing at her puffy eyes.

"Finally." Naruto drawled as they came down the stairs.

"Shut up!" Lani snapped and she heard Sakura mutter, "I think she'll handle him just fine."

"It has been good having you, even though it was for only a short while." Temari said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Hey, I'll be back soon enough." Lani replied, as the ninja were about to leave. "Thanks for everything!" She hollered over her shoulder as the five escorted themselves out of the village.

"Bye Lani!" Cara yelled, beginning to feel herself well up again.

"Bye!" Came her reply, echoing of the rooftops. And the door closed, just as the sun began to break through the horizon.

* * *

**A/N: I planned for a double upload. I'm terrible.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: The Village Hidden in the Leaves**

"The Leaf Village." Lani said aloud as she stood at Konoha's gates. They looked bigger than what she had expected, of course. She was standing directly in front of them, her head tilted back to soak it all in with wide eyes and open mouth. She was finally here, all her dreams had come true, well, all her _Naruto _dreams that is.

"Come on! Are you just going to stand there? We have to see Grandma Tsunade!" Naruto yelled excitably, a large grin on his face. During their journey, the blonde haired ninja had warmed up to Lani, and for that she was glad.

"Sorry, coming!" She replied sheepishly and ran to catch up with the others.

Before Lani was able to take in much of her surroundings, however, she realised that they were already at the Hokage's office. They entered after knocking, and Lani's eyes had sparkles in them as she marveled at the woman who was the Hokage.

"Wow!" Lani beamed at Tsunade who was sitting in her chair and in her usual posture, hands clasped together in front of her face.

"I see your mission to the Wind Country was successful." The busty woman noted with a nod in Lani's direction.

"Yes Lady Tsunade. We met the others and got all the information you asked for." Sakura replied, passing her the details.

"And your name is?" She asked the brown headed girl.

"Lani." She replied. "Just Lani."

Tsunade didn't seem to mind the lack of a last name, and leaned forward with a gentle smile on her face.

"We will try our best to send you and your comrade back, we promise."

"Thank you, Lady Hokage." Lani replied with an earnest bow.

"For now, Naruto, Sakura and Sai, I am hoping you will be able to help Lani and make sure she has somewhere to stay."

"Of course." They all replied and everyone, minus Kakashi, left.

Once outside, the trio showed Lani to a small apartment near Naruto's where she would stay for the duration of her time in the Leaf.

It was a cosy little place with two rooms and a bathroom. It was already furnished with a basic kitchen and dining room set. A bed and set of drawers had been set up for Lani, and they were pushed to the side on opposite walls. The expanse felt large and empty, similar to how her chest felt now.

Sakura promised to take her out a get some more things, seeing how downcast the brunette had suddenly become.

"Alright! Well lets head off to Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto declared and Sakura let out a heavy sigh.

"Really, Naruto?" Lani smothered a giggle behind her hand.

"Yeah! Boy I'm hungry!" He hollered, rubbing his stomach as they left Lani's apartment.

They dragged Sai there too, and began to pester Lani about questions of what her home was like, and how cool the series was. Lani participated with good humor and teased Naruto every now and then.

They only halted their question and answer session because their orders had been fulfilled and they dug in. Lani shoveled in chopstickful after chopstickful of the noodles, the flavours popping in her mouth.

She had never tasted such great ramen before! As to be expected, it was way better than the just-add-water pot stuff, but it was even better than the kind Lani and Cara always brought at morning markets back home.

"Hey old man!" Naruto hollered, snapping her out of her nostalgic thoughts. "Hit me with another round of Miso Barbecue Pork ramen – with extra pork!" Naruto instructed.

"Coming right up Naruto!" Teuchi replied.

_I wonder who is paying for all of this... better not be me. _Lani thought. _I don't even have any money! _

She looked down at her almost empty bowl, which she doubted she could finish. It was amazingly good, but she just couldn't finish such a big portion. Feeling eyes on her, she raised an eyebrow at an eager Naruto. Wordlessly, she passed him the bowl, which the blonde ninja finished off within minutes.

Catching Sakura's eye, Lani knew instantly what she was planning and knew exactly what she was thinking._ Time to split. _

"Bye Naruto! Thanks for the ramen!" They both chorused and Sakura dragged Sai out by the collar of his shirt.

"Enjoy your next ramen, I'm going to take Lani clothes shopping." Sakura waved over her shoulder.

With a shrug, Naruto suspected nothing as he plowed through his next bowl of ramen. They had only made it two blocks away when an earsplitting scream of a now broke Naruto echoed after them.

Lani later found herself laying in the bed of her apartment, unable to fall asleep. The bed was harder than hers at home, and scratchier – not that she really slept in it anyway. It wasn't comforting, it didn't make her feel at home like it should've.

She wanted that niggling spring in her back, her deflated pillow which still had dry spots of blood on it from when she bit her lip in the night. And most of all, she wanted to be able to sink into the unhealthily soft mattress and dream of nice things.

But what she wanted the most was Cara back. Her best friend. Her other half. The other pea in their pod. It was lonely without someone who knew everything about her, and it just wasn't the same with the Naruto characters. She knew everything about them, whereas they knew nothing about her.

Finally succumbing to a fitful doze, Lani tossed and turned, dreaming over and over again of the sensation of falling.

Lani woke up with a start, as the early morning sun beginning to rise. It was still grey outside, with only the first light of dawn beginning to show. She wondered if she was experiencing jetlag, never waking up this early after turning 10 years old.

Getting up Lani slowly got dressed in the clothes that Temari had loaned her – she felt bad for not giving them back when she left, but the blonde Sand ninja had reassured her it was okay – and cleaned her teeth and face.

Breakfast consisted of a warm loaf of bread from a small store right next to her apartment and she ate it as she explored the streets of central Konoha. The area was relatively quiet, but slowly, slowly, more citizens began to trickle in.

Unsure about the oncoming hustle and bustle, Lani found herself straying from the houses and people, deeper into a forest which lead to one of the many training grounds. She wasn't surprised to hear the sounds of weapons clashing and heavy panting.

Wanting to get a better look, but not get in the way, Lani began to climb a tree. She then sat on a branch which hovered just above the area, allowing her to see from a bird's-eye view. To her surprise, the two figures weren't actually two people, but rather a man and his dog.

Kiba and Akamaru.

_What could they be up to? A new technique? _She thought, seeing Kiba turning into Akamaru rather than vice versa. She leaned forward a little, like she would do when watching an intense action scene in a movie, as though she could predict their next move.

When nothing happened and Kiba only turned back into himself, Lani sighed in disappointment. So much for seeing some cool new Jutsu.

Akamaru's nose began to twitch as his head angled upwards, and he barked in Lani's direction. She felt instantly guilty for spying and attempted to hide behind the trunk of the tree. It was like she believed if she pressed herself into the tree hard enough, she would melt into it.

"What is it boy?" She heard Kiba ask, and knew he would looking right at the spot she had just been in. Akamaru let out another series of whines and yips and Kiba spoke again.

"Oi, come out. We know you're there." He spoke with his voice raised and demanding.

With a sheepish huff, Lani attempted to slide back down the trunk of the tree, but halfway to the bottom she slipped and fell. With a thump, she landed painfully on her backside, fingers grazed and stinging from were she had attempted to grab onto branches.

"Shoot." She hissed as she caught sight of the blood, beginning to well from the cuts and dribble down her hands and wrists.

"Hey, you alright?" Concern flashed across the young man's eyes as the pair bounded up to aid Lani.

"Just peachy." Lani said with a pained frown.

"Here, let me help." Kiba offered, grabbing Lani by her wrists – careful not to hurt her hands further – and attempted to haul her up, only for her to fall back down and bring Kiba with her.

"Oh Jesus! Sorry!" She said, wincing as he this time successfully pulled her to her feet.

"Hey it's alright. It's partly our fault."

Blood was now smeared across what had once been a perfectly good training shirt – it just had to be white – and now she doubted she could ever face the terrifying woman again now that she had permanently damaged clothing that wasn't hers.

"Well, thanks anyway." Lani replied, deciding to just press her hands to her shirt to cease the blood flow, since it was already ruined.

"You want me to take you to Sakura, Lani?"

"How do you know my name?" She asked with a defensive tone, angular eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh, uh, everyone knows about you." He said with a chuckle. "News travels fast, especially if Naruto is the one to be telling it."

Lani was surprised and unused to the fact that people recognised her. It was so different to being back home where she was constantly ignored. She had to keep reminding herself that this was real, and this world was different from the one she lived in.

"Now, you want to get those checked out?" He repeated once again and she shook her head.

"They'll be alright once the bleeding stops. I may not be a ninja, but I'm tough enough." She flashed him a toothy grin.

Akamaru barked and Kiba translated, "He likes you," as the dog sniffed gently around her ankles and sat before her.

The unusual trio walked back from the training ground and to central Konoha together, the two humans engaging in light conversation about the show Naruto. Kiba whistled in an impressed fashion as she explained to him everything he should know. However, she left bits and pieces about shipping and yaoi crack-pairings out of it. Best not venture into the dark side of a fandom.

The familiar shape of a purple and white clad ninja formed among the crowd and Kiba waved over to his teammate. "Hey Hinata! Come meet Lani!" He hollered, despite being close enough to the other woman to talk normally.

"Oh, hi Kiba, Lani-san."

"Please, just Lani." The brunette blushed, not used to such formalities.

"Lani then." Hinata nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

Hinata was never one to judge a person before she had properly met them. And that had been proven when she failed to see that Naruto was a bad person when everyone tried to tell her otherwise. However, something just felt wrong to her about the short girl who stood before her.

Something just felt like it was missing. Sure she wasn't from around here, and they knew next to nothing about the world Lani and her mysterious companion Cara had come from, but it was obvious they weren't ninjas in any way. But it felt like she lacked something that everyone else had. But Hinata just couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly.

"Hey, Hinata, you okay? You've been spacing out on us the entire conversation." Kiba said, concern in his eyes as he waved his hand in front of her eyes.

"H-Huh? O-Oh! Sorry Kiba, Lani. What were you saying?" She asked quietly, shaking her head to clear the fog of confusion in her mind.

"Ah, I just mentioned about going to get something to eat. Do you want to join us?" Lani asked, a kind smile on her face.

"No thank you. I have errands to run for the Hokage, I really should be going." She said as she turned to leave, throwing a wave over her shoulder.

"Alright, see ya Hinata!" Kida yelled.

"Bye!" Lani also called.

Once the pair had their backs turned, Hinata stopped walking, allowing them to get further away from her. She didn't like spying, or secretly snooping around, but she just had to find the answer to her dilemma.

Taking a deep breath, she muttered quietly to herself, "Byakugan!"

In a world where only dull greys and whites were seen, she scanned the crowd of blue wires which showed the chakra flowing through the citizen's bodies.

Most were very weak, those who weren't ninjas all had very weak chakra, because they never used or exercise it. She managed to find the duo by locating Kiba's strong chakra flow, which was like an outstanding beacon compared to that of the others surrounding them.

But, when she came to Lani, there was something even more horrifying waiting for her. _W-What is this? How can this be? _She thought, mouth forming into a surprised O. _She shouldn't even be able to exist in this world._

Instead of the regular ebb and flow of light blue chakra coursing throughout her body, the brunette had no such thing. It was as though her body was an empty shell, and it was like Hinata was looking at a table or chair which, would just be a blank expanse of gray.

Lani shouldn't even be _alive_ in this world, let alone laughing along with her teammate whilst walking down the street!

"I must inform the Hokage of this." She murmured to herself, previous duties forgotten as she raced back to the building.

_Lani has no chakra!_

* * *

**A/N: Another three weeks! I'm so sorry!**

**And I would just like to say, thank you to everyone who follows this story. I know you're there, all 10 of you, and even though you don't review it's just nice to know that you're there.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI: Adventures in the Sand**

Cara woke up, her head fuzzy from sleep. The sun, eager to enter and warm the room, peeked through the silky curtains at a now wide wake Cara. She took in her surroundings and mentally pinched herself. It was like this every morning.

She could never actually register the fact that she was _actually _in Gaara's house. In the Sand Village. In Naruto.

Cara sat up, the sheets sliding off her and she hopped out of bed, going to take a shower. She soaked under the warm water, it making her feel good and relaxed. However, after being in there for five minutes, she began to feel extremely lonely.

It had only been a day and she already missed Lani. They had been inseparable, but now they were separated. She didn't realise she had been waiting to hear a loud banging on the door of the bathroom, an angry Lani yelling at her to get out before she wasted all the hot water, until it never came.

At one point, she was sure she heard knocking, but assumed it was just her mind merging memories with reality in a cruel and twisted way.

"Its only for a few months." She muttered to herself, trying to reassure her herself, stopping the flow of water and stepping out.

Getting changed into something simple, she noticed that a note had been slipped under the crack fo her door, and she muttered to herself, "So someone was knocking."

_Cara,_

_Kankuro and Temari are out on a mission._

_You know where I am if you need to find me._

_Gaara. _

Wow. He sounded totally different in the note than when he talked in person. It was like he was a totally different Gaara. Cara stood, still staring out the note with a dumbfounded expression. She then folded the not in half and tucked it into her pocket, exiting the room.

Having the place to herself was fun at first. It meant she got to snoop around and pry into the personal lives of the minor characters of Naruto. However, being a spy became boring quickly when it was evident she was going back in and out of rooms which she had just left. The whole house looked the same it was so confusing!

Collapsing into a chair, she used her hand like a fan to blow air onto her face. The warm climate wa beginning to get to her, despite having lived in the middle east for the majority of her life before meeting Lani. She had been in the southern hemisphere too long to handle such stifling weather.

_Maybe I could go into town?_ She thought, standing up. It seemed like a good time to have a little adventure. Considering that the Sand Village was a "minor village"in the series, not much was shown to the audience about it. If anything Cara was going to take this opportunity to know as much as she could about the Naruto world, and get an "inside peek" which any Naruto fan would think she was making up if she ever got the chance to tell anyone about it.

Giddy with excitement for what may lay ahead, Cara hurriedly redid her hair – Suna didn't need to see her with hair like a bird's nest – before slipping out the house and into a busy street.

The Sand Village was quiet – but she knew that was to be expected. She remembered reading someone online that in comparison to the other villages, Suna had a rather low population, despite it's apparently large appearance. But Cara actually didn't mind it. She prefered the relaxed, less stressful and busy atmosphere of the place.

But as her walk continued, she began to feel very self conscious about herself. She could feel eyes on her from all angles and she was sure she could hear people whispering about her. Whether it was the good or bad kind of whispering, she couldn't tell.

She passed by children kicking a ball around and young genin excitedly telling their comrades about a mission they had just been on. Cara smiled to herself and decided, _this_ was the world she wanted to live in. One where clothes and make-up and technology didn't matter. The cool abilities aside, despite the sadness that enshrouded the ninja world, everyone seemed to come together to help someone and it didn't mater how well someone knew you – you were instantly considered family once they knew your name.

By late afternoon, Cara found herself aimlessly walking down a path which she didn't recognise but she began to draw it onto a map she was making herself. She'd picked up the paper and writing utensil along the way.

Taking a small side road, Cara managed to squeeze through the gap of two houses, popping out the other side with much effort exerted. _Am I getting fat? _She inwardly wondered, a finger tapping her lip in thought.

Cara glanced around the new area in which she had stumbled upon, her eyes snapping open in shock.

A ghostly breeze of time gone by swirled against her shoulders, her hair been blown dramatically to the side as she stared ahead. Before her gently swaying backwards and forwards, was that oh-so-familiar swing, as though it was waving hello to her. Most surprisingly though, was the man sitting on it – the Kazekage himself.

Some academy aged kids where playing with a ball, kicking it around with huge grins on their faces. Suddenly, a kick went spiraling off in a random direction, bouncing to a stop at Gaara's feet. The group ran up to go retrieve it, before stopping with wide eyes in front of him. Instead of running away in terror like the others had in this familiar scene of Gaara's childhood, when he handed it to them, gap-toothed grins appeared.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama!" They all chorused, running off to go play again. She was sure the ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.

"Hey, why're you here?" She asked as she strode over to him, and he jumped in his seat.

"Hm? Oh, Cara." He said, fully noticing the girl's presence and he sheepishly mumbled, "Oh, no reason. I just needed to think."

"Huh? Is the Kazekage slacking off work?" She said, peering down at him with a scrutinising gaze.

Gaara appeared to visibly shrink away from Cara's sharp brown eyes. "N-No." He stammered weakly.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you!" She said, laughing and grinning. "I don't think I could handle a stuffy office job!"

The red haired man visibly relaxed once Cara reassured him she wouldn't snitch about slacking off, however his face turned to one of bewilderment as Cara boldly linked an arm through his and began to drag Gaara away from the swing.

"Uh, C-Cara, where are you taking me?"

"Anywhere really. What about getting something to eat?" The brunette offered, continuing to pull him deeper into the center of town.

"I, uh, I don't know if I should." He nervously stumbled over his words, as well as his own feet.

"Please, it's just one day. And we'll tell anyone who asks that you're escorting me around Suna." Cara told him, with a look on her face that he couldn't say no to.

Cara inwardly smiled as she hand to drag Gaara along with her less and less as he began to walk along side of her. He would occasionally point out different places to her and people would come out and greet them.

"So, what's it like? Being in the Sand rather than where you came from." He asked after a long silence, Cara becoming a bit taken aback.

"Well, its fun I guess. Being able to meet everyone after being a fan of the series for so long. But I guess I miss my mum and our friends." She said, referring to Lani and herself. "It would feel weird in a way though, wouldn't it? To be away from home with no way to get back."

Gaara shrugged as he told her, "I have no clue what it's like."

After buying them a green tea mochi each from a small stand, Gaara and Cara continued their little outing into the afternoon, the Kazekage giving her a more educated and guided tour of the Sand Village. More citizens and some ninjas returning from missions who didn't know of the two human's arrival were introduced to her.

The house was dark when the pair returned. Gaara and Cara had spent most of the afternoon walking along and Temari and Kankuro still weren't back yet. She assumed they would probably be gone for another day or so, despite not knowing the full details.

Food to be heated was left in the fridge for them, Temari had left them a note on the bench explaining everything. _I feel like she's my Oneechan too..._ Cara thought as she slowly warmed each plate of food up while Gaara set places for them in the adjoining dining area.

Not much was said over dinner, the two both enjoying Temari's cooking too much to strike up a conversation and stop shoveling food into their mouths. By the time they had finished, the sun had slipped down the sandy hills beyond and the moon had risen to take it's place.

At the present time, the brunette teen was sitting on the sill of her open window, legs dangling outside and she swung them back and tilted upwards, she gazed to the sky which shone with a deep midnight hue. The cool night breeze made her clothes flutter around her.

She couldn't sleep, but in saying that, she hadn't really tried. Her mind was still buzzing with happy feelings. A day with Gaara – something she had never thought would ever happen – had come true! She was too excited, replaying scenes from the days adventures over and over again. It had been so exciting, and thankfully she didn't say or do anything weird. She hoped.

From behind the door she heard a knock, and she twisted her head around to say, "come in."

Gaara walked in, cocking his head to the side. "I didn't know you were still awake." He mumbled.

"You wouldn't of come if you thought that." She told him with a knowing smile, and he turned his head away.

As Cara went to pull her legs back in so she could talk to him properly, she couldn't quite move her leg up and over, in the process, tipping off the thin sill and toppling back into the room. Bracing herself for the awkward and painful impact to come, she squeezed her eyes shut in the process. However, that feeling never came as something surprisingly soft went to catch her, and slowly lowered her to the floor.

"Huh?" She said, looking up in surprise as the sand that had saved her slowly returned to it's host. "Oh thank you." She said, realising what had happened and she went to stand. "No what were you here for?" She asked, brushing off remaining granules of sand.

"Oh, it was nothing." He said, and it became evident to her the he was losing the remaining resolve that he had worked up and she smiled.

"No, it's wasn't. Come on, ask me anything, tell me anything."

He was silent for a moment before then saying, "well, I was going to offer to show you around some more tomorrow – that is, if you wanted." He said, unable to look at her, but at the floor instead.

"Slacking off again, hmm?" She folded her arms across her chest in a disappointed manner, however, with her mocking tone it was evident she was joking. "But of course I'll come! I had fun today." She reasurred him.

Gaara visibly relaxed and Cara swore she saw a small smile appear. However it was gone as soon as it came and she couldn't even be sure it wasn't just the lighting hitting the right spots.

"Well good night Cara." He said as the quiet became increasingly awkward.

"G'Night." Cara replied, going to watch as he walked down the hall before closing the door.

She let out an excited squeal which she quickly smothered with her hands, and she began to jump around excitedly in the process. Nibbling on her lip, she briefly wondered whether this could be considered a date or not, however didn't dwell on it long. It didn't matter right now because she was just so happy she would be spending the day with her all time favourite anime character!

She spun around and collapsed on the bed, comfortably sprawled out and grinning madly to herself. That grin slowly began to die down as her eyes became heavy and she slipped into a blissful sleep.

* * *

A/N: Was this fluffy enough?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII: Troubles With Man And His Dog**

Finally settled into the Leaf Village, it had already been a week and a half, but it felt like only a day. Time was going by fast during the day, but when night fell was when the loneliness crept in and her yearning for her best friend swelled to a high. All these great experiences she was having, she wished to be able to share with Cara.

As Lani recorded everything that had happened over the past week in her first official letter to her friend, she relived each hilarious, cringeworthy and blissful moment in her mind. She could envision the training practices between Konohamaru and Naruto, and finally being taken to see the Memorial Stone. As she tied her letter up and attached her it to one of the message carrier birds, she watched it fly away into the distance.

With a satisfied sigh, Lani retreated from the balcony of the Hokage building and back down to the street below.

It was a stunning day, like always. Cloudless sky stretching on forever and the sun's warmth being just the right temperature to create that glowing feeling on her skin but not make her overheat. Writing her letter had previously given Lani something to occupy herself with, but now she had run out of things to do.

If she was a ninja, she could train. If she was a ninja, she could take a mission. But Lani was a simple civilian, someone who had come into this world. She was a regular person, and being banned from training like a ninja for the time being, most of her days were spent sleeping or watching the others train.

A low, disheartened whine came from behind Lani, and she turned in surprise. She found a sullen looking Akamaru, but no Kiba.

What was going on there?

"Hey Akamaru, where's Kiba? Is he in trouble? Is he hurt?" Her eyes were clouded with worry. She had become close with the dog-boy over the duration here, simply because he was the one who showed her around the village.

Akamaru let out another whine in reply.

Lani never really had a great affinity with animals, and wondered how people could understand their animals so well. However, looking at Akamaru now, she could read what he was trying to tell her and it was though he was saying into her mind: _I don't know..._

"That's strange, they're never separated." She mused aloud to herself as her shoulders slumped forward. She knew what she had to do. "Come on Akamaru, lets go find your troublesome master." She sighed.

The young woman glanced around sheepishly, as to make sure nobody was noticing as she slid to sit on top of Akamaru's back. She could feel the warmth of his fur on her skin and she wanted to lay on him forever. Lani doubted Kiba would mind her doing this. She was in fact _already_ on him, and it would be faster.

"Hey Akamaru, Lani, it's weird to see you without Kiba."  
"Hmm? No Kiba today Lani?"  
"Where's Kiba? He's never without Akamaru, eh Lani?"

These were the comments which came with questioning glances and raised eyebrows that followed the girl and canine where ever they searched.

"We're looking for him." Lani said to the newest person to ask as she turned around. There so happened to be Ayame, a noodle ladle in hand, broth stained apron on.

"Well, he hasn't come by here, if that helps." She offered with a shrug and a smile. "But I'll keep my eyes open." She concluded with a wink.

With an exasperated sigh, the pair travelled on further, stopping Lee and Tenten's training session to ask if they had even _heard_ from the Inuzuka boy. It appeared as though nobody had seen or heard from him since the previous day, and he only mentioned something briefly about training. Although, it was unclear where or what he would be doing.

The girl and dog traveled around, Akamaru keeping his nose to the ground. Sometimes he would lift it up into the air and occasionally whined.

_Honestly! What is this, bloody hide and seek? _She thought to herself.

"Maybe we should check in with your family?" She asked Akamaru, the cream furred canine yapping in agreement.

Naturally, Lani had never been to the Veterinary Centre before. Of course she had seen it in various episodes, but never knew how to get there. She allowed Akamaru to lead the way, taking her through an area of Konoha she was yet to discover.

The bell rang as they entered, alerting the two of the three Haimaru Brothers – the one in the middle was asleep – to their arrival. Hana was not in the front of the clinic, Lani deciding she must be somewhere in the back. She slid off Akamaru, allowing to him to go greet the others. The three dogs barked happily to each other, sniffing the air in appreciation and playfully butting heads.

"I'm sorry I thought I put the closed sign on th- Oh, Lani. How nice to finally meet you. I've been hearing lots about you."

Lani's eyes snapped up in surprise to see not Hana, but in fact Kiba's mother, Tsume standing by the door which led to the infirmary in the back. The woman was even more intimidating in person, and her smile which tried to be kind was more cunning than anything. But her soft eyes portrayed something within them, a deep, inner gentleness which she knew only few could see.

"Oh, it's good to meet you too Ms. Inuzuka. I was actually here to ask if you had seen Kiba. Akamaru and I have been searching for him... all day..." She trailed off, noticing something in the older woman's expression change.

There was the slight twitch of a facial muscle, her eyebrows dipping and mouth forming into a thin line. Her nose twitched as she smelt the air, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Her eyes blazed with anger which sprung up from nowhere, as though alcohol had just been poured on a dying fire. Lani took a hesitant step back, her nervous habit of biting on her lip springing to life. She wasn't sure what she had said or done, but she wanted to melt into the floor as Tsume took a step forward.

"I-I uh... uh... I-I'm sorry... I-I..." She trailed off in shock and bewilderment as the terrifying woman stomped past her and to where the four dogs were, blissfully unaware of what was unfolding.

"You little brat!" The woman said, and Akamaru's eyes looked up in fear.

The dog's tail went between his hind legs and his ears drooped even more. That didn't stop Tsume though, from gripping one of those ears and hoisting poor Akamaru up onto his hind legs.

Lani gasped and was about to yell something when the plume of white smoke burst forth into the air.

Still held by his ear, sprawled in an awkward sitting position was Kiba, looking sheepishly up at his mum.

"H-Hi." Was all he managed to say before he was hit over the head.

"You little brat!" Tsume repeated. "What were you trying to pull?"  
"H-Honestly mum! I was just trying out a justu and I got stuck somehow. H-Honest." He raised his hands defensively above his face.

Lani's head whipped around to see a flash of white fur bolt at Kiba, leaping on and then smothering the boy with joyful, slobbery licks.

Realisation kicked in, as her brain registered that the Akamaru she rode around the leaf village for the whole day was actually Kiba! Lani's hands shook as she felt bubbling rage begin to boil inside the pit of her stomach. All of this searching, all of this worrying – for nothing!? Lani was tired, irritable, homesick and worried out of her mind. She was the type of person that always thought of the worse possible outcomes when something went wrong. She couldn't exactly help it.

Her hands balled into angry fists and her jaw clenched as she shot Kiba a murderous glare. Furiously stomping, she flounced out of the veterinarian centre, bell clanging loudly and the door slamming with as satisfying _bang_ to make it shudder on it's hinges.

It wasn't surprising the Kiba came scrambbling after her, yelling at her to let him explaine. With an exasperated sigh, she stopped and turned to face him, hands arrogantly on her hips.

"What?" She snarled viciously.

"Look, I'm sorry okay. I was trying to tell you, but there is only so much a dog can do."

"Why didn't you just change back?" She yelled at him.

"Because I _couldn't_. I'm really sorry okay. I was practicing the jutsu you saw us working on and for some reason I couldn't change back." He tried to tell her desperately.

"Fine." She huffed. "I don't really believe you, but I guess it's good enough."

"Well, thanks for understa- Ow!"

Kiba howled in pain, recoiling from the punch to his cheek. He could feel the stinging sensation of oncoming bruising as he dropped to the ground, holding his cheek.

"What was that for?" He yelled at her, it being his turn to be angry.

"For being and idiot." She extended a hand to him. "But this is for being my friend."

He gladly accepted the gesture and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"See ya tomorrow Kiba!" Lani hollered after his retreating form as she walked into her apartment. She had forgiven him, and the matter was forgotten. But that wasn't the case for Tsume though, who was probably going to give her son an earful when he got home.

Its was dark and she was hungry, but there wasn't really anything to eat.

She had consumed all the pots of instant ramen Naruto had allowed her to have, but with the promise of having pay him back in some shape or form. She had already eaten the anmitsu which Sakura had kindly dropped off as a belated welcoming gift, along with some medical supplies. Rummaging in the back of her fridge, she found left over hamburger steak. Her rumbling stomach would settle for just about anything now.

Sitting down on her bed, Lani dug in, not caring it was stone cold. From her window, she watched as the sun began to slide down the 5 Hokage's faces. Finishing her meal and deciding tomorrow would be grocery day, she sprawled herself on the bed, exhausted from the day's events.

When she recalled Kiba's being exposed by Tsume, she still felt pissed and could tell she was beginning to frown. Whatever Tsume had in store, for him, she knew it would be Hell. A satisfied smirk then graced her lips.

He was a good friend to her, though. She gave him that.

As it gradually go darker, Lani began to feel her eyes drop. She relaxed into her pillow and began to fall asleep. But to her unknowing, she was being watched...

Lani awoke up the next morning, unsurprised to find she had slept in. Even though she didn't go to bed late, she would regularly sleep for about 12 hours on the weekends, the only time she would get up at eight in the morning is if she went to be at eight o'clock at night!

Getting up, she tied her hair in a casual ponytail and swapped her sleep singlet for a shirt. She went into the bathroom and began to brush her teeth in the small circular vanity mirror. She was half way through, before she nearly jumped out of her skin! A sudden, loud pounding against her door rung out through the small apartment building.

With a disgruntled sigh, she yelled around her toothbrush, "alrigth, alrigth! Ihm kuhming!"

She swung the door wide, about to glare kunai at whoever was making the racket. However, she stopped once she saw who was, and offered a toothpaste filled smile.

"Oh heth Narhuto." She said, toothbrush moving up and down as she spoke. She honestly, couldn't care less about her attire and appearance, Naruto observed, as she made no move to change. "Luhk, I kno I owe you shum Inshant Rahmen, I'll bhe gething shum tudey." She mumbled.

"Thanks Lani, but I didn't come her for that." He said. "Even though it would be better if it could be Ichiraku Ramen." He added with a cheeky smirk.

"Don't puth yer ruck." She warned. "So what is this about then?"

"The Hokage wants you. Grandma Tsunade said something like she had some news or something." "Ugh? Nuw?" She sighed, before turning on her heel and walking back into the bathroom. She left the door open, leaving Naruto standing there.

"Uh...?" For once in his life, Naruto appeared to be bewildered.

"Lady Tsunade?" Lani knocked on the door meekly, wondering why she was summoned.

"Come in Lani." The older woman ordered, the door creaking open as Lani entered. She was surprised to find Hinata and Kakashi there.

"What's going on?" She asked, frowning in confusion.

"I will let Hinata explain." Tsunade said, Hinata going bright red as if she was talking to Naruto.

"W-Well, firstly, please forgive me Lani-san." Hinata said, bowing deeply. "T-The other day when we talked, I felt something weird about you an-."

"Did I smell bad?" She asked, then turned to Tsunade, "Is it a crime to smell bad in Konoha?"

"Let Hinata finish." The Hokage said sternly, and Lani backed off.

"It became obvious to me that something was wrong, and when I used Byakugan, I found you have no Chakra."

A long silence followed, Lani unable to comprehend what she had just heard. How could that be? In this world you were dead without Chakra... It was then her brain kicked into gear.

"What?! No Chakra?! How can that be?!" Lani then shrieked, whirling to look around at each person present. Tsunade still had to remind herself that this girl wasn't oblivious to what went on in the ninja world.

She_ knew _she wasn't supposed to be alive.

"We are unsure." Tsunade spoke with a calm confidence, which appeared to sooth the desperate brunette. "However, that is why I called in Kakashi. We suspect that maybe you have some kind of invisible seal or block, which suppresses Chakra because you are not from this world."

Lani tried to think back to those spiritual stores in the city, and euphoric cafes which sold books and charms on Chakra and becoming peaceful and spiritual. It had all been stuff Lani ignored and found unimportant. Now she realised how much of an idiot she was.

With a polite nod, Kakashi said, "We'll be starting tomorrow at Training Ground 8, I suggest you get Naruto to show you the way."

_Training. Just what I need. _

* * *

A/N: I'm so, so sorry for not updating this sooner! But I went to camp and exam prep got in the way too. I'll try to keep to my three week time frame with the updates to come. Plus, this chapter was longer than usual too, so hopefully this is an acceptable apology?


End file.
